All whom it may concern



H. ACKERMAN.-

Cdrn Planter.

Patented Aug. 11, 1868.

HENRY AGKERMAN, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 80,892, dated August 11, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN GORN-PLANTEESQ tt gt stimuli numb it in tigmgtnnts fittest ltltbllttltlltg ts Hf flge same.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Be it known that I, HENRY AGKERMAN, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corn-Planters and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,'clear, and exact description of the nature thereof, sufiicient to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to fully understand and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and in whichi Y :Figure 1 is a top or plan view of the device illustrating my invention. Figure 2 is a bottom view of the rear part thereof. Figure 3 is a side view thereof;

Figure 4 is a centrallvertieal section of the corn-box and rotating spindle. Figure 5 is an elevation of the marker. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures. My invention is'a new and improved device for planting corn, whereby it may be planted in several rows, and at different distances. Means are also afforded-to allow the carriage .to pass over irregular surfaces, and to raise andlower the drills when occasion requires it.

The rotating spindle is provided with peculiar-shaped cells, and brushes are arranged therewith, so that the desired number of kernels are dropped at the proper time. I

A marker is also provided, which may be quickly applied to and removed from the rotating spindle, as will be hereinafter morefully described. A i

In the drawings- A A represent the frame of; my corn-planter, which is supported at one end by a single wheeler roller, B, and at the other end by two wheels, 0 0, their axle 0 being pivoted to a cross-beam, D, above it. This crossbeam 1) is firmly attached to the main frame A by two metal plates, cl d, and another plate d, is fastened to frame A, and passes-into a slot in the centre of the axle-tree G, to keep the bolt G in the proper position. A belt, a, is intended for the attachment of the tongue,and bib is an ordinary fifth-Wheel. The cross-beams A A of frame A support a plate, E, to which are fastened anumber of seed-boxes, F, and the drivers seat G, partly seen in fig. 1.- Slots are formed in .this plate, to allow the seed to drop through them; A cylindrical revolving distributor or spindle, H, passes through the lower end of seed-boxes, and is provided with cups or cells it, adapted to receive the seed intended to be planted, at certain distances in the field. Ablock, I', is fastcued within each seed-box F, and serves as means for fastening brushes i thereto. These brushes i'bearon' the surface of the spindle or distributor H over the cells it. When the spindle revolves and the cells are filled, the brushes allow only so many grains to pass around in the cell as to be even with the surface of the spindle H. The surface at the rear part of the cell is out down, as seen at It in fig. 4. This overcomes a difiiculty that is experienced in all similar distributors without the reduced surface it. The brushes 1: readily sweep the seeds over the forward edge 7L2, but the rear edge, It, being the same height as the brush, any seed caught at its centre by said edge 7t will catch the brush, also, and in its revolving motion bendit over and carry it between the distribhter and its enclosure, while other seeds above and around will occasionally slip in the so-formed aperture and obstruct and impede the operation of the distributor H. Itis evident that this cannot happen with thearrangement shown iufig. 4, for any kernels caught by the edge It, and carried against the brush 2',will be turned by it over the said edge and pushed easily ahead on the reduced surface, providing that the edge It and brush i do not open enough toallow a kernel to pass between them. The seedhoxes F are fastended to thev plate E by means of metal braces f or other means. K is an ordinary clutch, sliding on H, which is provided with'a feather, to cause said clutch to turn with H, but have free lateral motion. It is operated by a shipping-lover, k, and receives its motion from a loose pulley, L, provided-with shoulders to match similar shoulders on said clutch. The pulley L receives its motion from a series'of pulleys or cones M, fastened to the axle of wheel B, th rough the medium of a belt or haimor equivalent. l l are pedestal-bearings for the distributor H. m are levers by which the cultivator-s m m are opera ed, and to which they are fastened, the middle one having its hearings in the frame A A, and the outer ones in swinging frames N N, which are attached to frame A by hinges n n, so that they may swing in a vertical direction. To the end of each of these swinging frames is a wheel, 0, which acts as a support, and also, like wheel B, as a roller to press the ground down and over the seed when sown.

Fig. 5 represents a T-shaped indicator, shank f of which can be inserted into an opening; f, in the distributor H. The points enter the ground alternately, when the machine is in motion, and leave marks by which the operator can tell at what distance the seed-cups h discharge their contents. The pulleys oncones M give him opportunity to change the speed of the distributor when desired. If he sets the machine in motion again, and finds the distances marked by the indicator to be proper, he removes the indicator and continnesplanting without it. p

The framework of my machine, resting on three wheels G c 0, (according to the principle that three points determine the situation of a plane,) presents several advantages, since the condition of the ground cannot interfere with the equal distribution of weight on the fifth-wheel arrangement, while'on four-wheel vehicles the case is exactly the reverse. Thchinged frames N, resting on wheels 0, are able to follow the undulations of the ground and carry their respective eultivators with them, always at the proper height, without ever changing the depth of the furrow.

This simplifies the'drivers business to a great extent, as he need only raise the cultivator out of the way of stones and stumps. The wheel B, supporting agr'eater weight than wheels 0 0, might be prevented from making too deep a depression in the ground by making said wheel broaden than the wheels or rollers 0.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Supporting the rear of the'planter by a single wheel, 13, mounted on a rigid frame, in combination with the side wheels 0, mounted on hinged frames, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The cultivators m, secured at their upper ends to the angular levers in, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The removable T-shaped marker, substantially as and for the purpose described.

To the above I have signed my name, this 12th day of May, A. D. 1868.

HENRY AOKERMAN. Witnesses:

FRANCIS Toannnon,

H. F. FORTNEY,

WM. -HERRINGTON. 

